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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28798425">A Ghostly Love Story</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyKiwiBird/pseuds/SpookyKiwiBird'>SpookyKiwiBird</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Character Death, Ghost!AU, Haunting, Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Loneliness, M/M, bad habits, nicotine addiction, vengeful spirit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:14:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28798425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyKiwiBird/pseuds/SpookyKiwiBird</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cinna Von Bergen has been alone his entire life, but when he moves into the supposedly haunted apartment of his dead friend from highschool, he finds himself feeling less and less alone with every passing day. </p>
<p>Through the ups and downs of both life and death, Haru and Cinna must navigate through the past, love, and forgiveness.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cinna Von Bergen/Haru Yama, Original Male Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Ghostly Love Story</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first real story! I don’t know if anyone will see this, but I hope anyone who reads this enjoys! &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Cinna Von Bergen was alone. Completely and utterly alone. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He grew up alone, he graduated high school alone, got a job alone, got an apartment alone, lost said apartment alone. All of his life he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>alone. </span>
  </em>
  <span>And it was entirely his fault. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna Von Bergen, a notorious workaholic and heavy smoker, had pushed everyone in his life away. From his foster family to anyone who tried to befriend him in highschool or at work, he was quick to get them out of his life. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So, therefore, Cinna Von Bergen was completely and utterly alone, brought upon by his own volition. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Said man lit up a cigarette, something he seemed to do quite often, as he put the last folded shirt into the box on the ground. Ashes fell onto the shirt below, but he didn’t seem to care all that much. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna was a rather short, albino man. His red tinged eyes shook rapidly from behind his cheap square glasses, and his thin, wispy white hair looked about two seconds from falling out. He was skinny, borderline malnourished, with sallow features and sunken in cheekbones. The easiest way to describe him would be </span>
  <em>
    <span>unhealthy. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He ate about once a day, if that, and went grocery shopping usually once a month. His apartment was surprisingly barren of food, although it was messy with plenty of other things. While not a hoarder by any means, Cinna’s apartment looked like it hadn’t been cleaned a day in its life. Of course, his apartment was empty now though, especially since he had been evicted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His reason for being evicted was rather minor really, but it was enough to kick him, a particularly rude tenant, out of the apartment. At least they had been nice enough to give him a two weeks notice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Within that time span he had found a new apartment, thankfully, for surprisingly cheap as well. Suspiciously cheap, even, but he wouldn’t complain. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Flicking them ashes onto the floor out of spite, Cinna stood up straight, all of his bones cracking and popping as he moved. His joints ached from the early onset arthritis he had since high school. It was somewhat manageable, although it hurt like a bitch since he didn’t do anything to </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually </span>
  </em>
  <span>manage it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a scowl on his sunken in features, the 35 year old man bent at the knees to pick up the box on the floor. His knees popped this time, making him wince as he made his way out of the door, shutting it behind him for the last time. It was sort of sad to leave—he had lived in this apartment longer than he had lived anywhere else. It held a lot of fond memories of sitting on the couch watching tv and eating frozen dinner. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>15 years down the drain. Gone in the blink of an eye. He couldn’t even remember when he last felt alive. But it didn’t matter now, because he was starting a new chapter in his life, in a new apartment. Hopefully one that didn’t have some sort of bugs in it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna walked down to his beaten up car that he barely used, shoving the box into the backseat where the rest of his boxes were. The trunk and the backseat was packed full of stuff, mostly clothes that he didn’t wear, and utensils that he hardly used. There wasn’t any use in leaving them behind, so he decided to take them with him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Getting into his car, he started it up. The engine sputtered and coughed for a second before it actually turned on, a sign that he needed a new car. Alas, he was stubborn, and thought that he didn’t need a new car. He had driven the same piece of junk for the last 10 years, and it hadn’t died on him yet. So there wasn’t any need to replace it now! </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna lit up another cigarette. His entire car reeked of smoke, but he couldn’t bother to care anymore. His years of caring about where he smoked were in the past. Besides, his hands were beginning to shake from withdrawals already, although it had only been approximately 10 minutes since his last cigarette. To say he was dependent on nicotine would be an understatement. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The albino man shifted the car into the correct gear, pulling out of the parking lot for the last time. It was bittersweet, leaving everything behind, but he didn’t have anything left to do anymore. There wasn’t anything he could do anymore. He had run the same routine over and over and over for the past 15 years. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Change was...different. Not necessarily bad, but not necessarily good either. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna flicked the ashes from his cigarette out the window as he drove with one hand, only pulling his hand back inside of the car when he needed to change gears. It was a tricky process to manage, but he had perfected it over the years. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The drive to his new apartment wasn’t very long. That’s the whole reason he decided to take the apartment, after all, it was cheap and relatively close to where his other apartment was. If he needed to retrieve something that he had left behind, it wouldn’t be an hour drive back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The tall building loomed over everything, complimenting the gloomy sky that surrounded it. Any regular person would have been wary of the place, but he wasn’t. At this point though, he didn’t quite care anymore. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Putting out his cigarette in the ashtray that permanently resided in one of his cup holders, Cinna let out a slow exhale, starting to cough a moment later when there wasn’t enough oxygen in his lungs. Lately he had found that breathing was quite difficult, but he supposed he had the cigarettes to thank for that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man pulled into a parking spot sloppily, getting out of his car and grabbing the set of keys he had been given by the landlord. He could grab the boxes in a second—once he had unlocked the door and propped the front door open. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The front steps to the apartment were cracked, making the place look even more sad and dreary than it already was. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how it looked inside, but he would find out in a moment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna used one of the keys to open the door, inhaling the scent of fresh baked cookies as soon as he walked in. The sound of laughter from one of the lower apartments echoed through his ears, bringing him an inalienable sense of sadness. When was the last time he had laughed? He had no clue. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His gaze slowly drifted towards the mailboxes on the wall opposite of where he was standing. Strangely enough, a familiar name caught his eye. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yama - Haru.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Haru...Yama…” Cinna said aloud, startling when he heard a sad laugh from behind him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Behind him stood a tired looking woman with two small children on her hips. She had white hair as well, although hers looked dyed. Or maybe it was gray from stress. Her eyes were kind, although she regarded him warily. There was a sharpness to her gaze, like she didn’t trust him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kumo,” She introduced herself, shifting the two babies on her hips. They seemed to be out cold. “Kumo Yukimori.” She examined his appearance, and her eyes softened. “I heard there was someone new moving in. Then again, someone new moves in every month it seems.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna gave her a quizzical look, glancing from her to the apartment door that was right up the stairs. “What do you mean?” He asked gruffly, eyeing the way she flinched at his tone, moving away from him an inch. She seemed rather uncomfortable, and yet she was talking to him. Why? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Didn’t you hear?” Kumo tilted her head to the side, letting out a soft sigh when he shook his head. “Haru Yama. He died in that apartment 7 years ago. I knew him. He was a lonely man. They say his spirit haunts that apartment.” She gestured with her head towards the door. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna couldn’t help but freeze in shock. Haru was dead. He died here. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you know him?” The woman asked gently. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Knew him in high school,” He mumbled, glancing at the worn piece of paper on the mailbox. “How did you...know him?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kumo looked away, the expression on her face was unreadable. “I would always see him in the halls. He was always stumbling around, sometimes he would be crying too. I never got to talk to him though.” Her features morphed into something somewhat sympathetic. “That was before I started talking again. I wish I could have done something to help him though.” Her eyes turned back to him. She seemed like such a gentle woman, although there was a sadness brewing in her eyes. “Nobody knew he was dead. He stayed up there for two months before someone started complaining about the smell. Apparently he hadn’t paid his rent for a while either so…” She trailed off. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna was at a loss for words. He stayed up there for two months? And nobody thought to look for him? “Did he have any family?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, I never knew him personally,” Kumo murmured, only perking up when one of the kids on her hips started to rouse from their sleep. “I’m sorry, I have to go.” She gave him a sad smile. “Good luck.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Good luck is all she left him with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was...confused to say the least, but there wasn’t any time to dwell on that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite the fact that he felt like he had swallowed a pile of bricks, Cinna forced himself to climb the stairs. The smell of death invaded his nose when he reached the top step, making him hesitate. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kumo had said he had died 7 years ago. There was no way his body was still inside the apartment, right? Maybe he was just hallucinating. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nevertheless, he hesitated, glancing down at the keys in his hand before he worked up the courage to jam them into the doorknob, turning the key quickly before bracing himself to go inside. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cinna blinked, letting out a relieved sigh when he found that the apartment was empty. Completely empty. A small smile rose to his face, one of satisfaction that he had proven his paranoid brain wrong. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The apartment was fairly nice too. It was a two bedroom apartment with a small bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. One of the rooms he could use as an office, and the other as a bedroom. It was, frankly, a really nice apartment for how cheap it was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haunted, huh? Yeah right. Cinna Von Bergen didn’t believe in ghosts. Especially not ghosts of his dead high school acquaintances. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still, the fact that he had died here weirder him out a bit. He found himself wondering how the poor guy had died. In high school he was always exuberant, albeit a bit tipsy all the time. He knew that Haru always carried around a flask with him, and like Kumo said, he was almost constantly stumbling around in a drunken stupor. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shaking off the memories of his former classmate, Cinna made his way back down to his car, propping open the door with someone’s package. He managed to carry two boxes at a time, making his back groan in pain at the amount of weight. He hadn’t carried this much at one time since his high school days when he used to care about working out. Now he just felt like a decrepit old man. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he had finally retrieved all of the boxes out of his car, he locked his car and let the front door slide shut. His bed was supposed to be delivered early next week, so for now he would sleep on the couch. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It felt weird to be in Haru’s old house. He found himself wondering if this was the couch </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>slept on too. A shiver went down his spine at the mere thought, and for a moment he thought he felt eyes on him. And for some strange reason, Cinna thought there was a faint “Get out.” Whispered in his ear.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nevertheless, he started to unpack. He had a lot of work to do. </span>
</p>
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